A few days later and I am still analyzing that which I witnessed on Juneteenth. Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, you are 80% goals sir. I mean you still have some HOTEP in you, but I am rocking with you in this moment.
I won’t go into the deets on the history of Kendrick v Drake. If you don’t know….how did you end up here would be my first of many questions. I will give you the comedic recap here:
My first exposure to K Dot was to Pimp a Butterfly. I was in the car with Andrea of all people and she put it on for me. I share that to explain why I am slower to the K Dot train that I would be otherwise. I associated him with who presented him to me. Didn’t make him any less great, just adds to the list of things she took from me.
Drake – meh.
I will be 52 in October. I was there for the debut of Hip Hop and I’ve seen a lot. I am also not up to speed on a lot of current music. I told myself that this music was for the kids, I am not a kid so I will just hang with the oldies. On occasion I would hear something new-ish and add it to the rotation but if it was released after 2010 there was a good chance I did not know it. In a general sense I don’t have an issue with Drake. He makes music, some I like some I don’t and that was that. I was never his target audience and that was fine. There is a lot of music out there I am not the demo for but in general I love music so I gave that space. I was always in awe though that this mid road artist never seemed to be affected by the changes and shifts or the beefs. He was always there. I halfway recall the Meek Mill beef and that it hurt me that a nigga from Philly lost to who I thought was an inferior product. It was at that time I decided that Meek was from Camden. He still from Camden as far as I am concerned. I have a few Drake songs on my phone but I still got Michael Jackson on my phone.
Because I am not up to date on the new rap stuff I never heard Like That until the beef got up there. I’ve heard it since, that shit is flames.
At this point I still don’t know 100 HOW this popped up on my radar but it did and I am better for it. Yes I am better for it. Rap Beef made me better.
Kendrick Lamar Duckworth did something amazing not just in Hip Hop but in Blackness and I am pro Black.
There were a couple songs from Drake then I heard 6:16 in LA. Apparently Euphoria was first but the first Kendrick song I heard was 616 on LA. whew After that I went BACK and listened to Euphoria. I wondered if the D was gonna recover.
You see Kendrick is a student of Hip Hop, he is arguably a genius outside of the business. If you go through the discography K Dot is damn near flawless. Mind you he might not be your cup of tea style wise and even with superfandom he has a couple where I am like that might be a lil too much but K Dot isn’t corporate industry regurgitated mass consumption. He has a Pulitzer Prize son. I also saw the Mr Morale tour. K Dot is a griot, a showman and methodical.
The opening to Euphoria the ending to Euphoria warned us. Now it was simple to say, hey that’s just show and beef, folx talk shit. Now K Dot gave us some GOOD shit, but you could still possibly say it was all in the art of beef.
What few, if any of us civilians knew Kendrick hates Aubrey. It could very well be that its just that Drake is the physical manifestation of all which Kendrick hates about the current state of Hip Hop. I would not argue with him there to tell the truth. I explained it once, that I am just not who Drake was built for, my concept of hip hop is different. There are some out there who all they know is a Drake and I hate that for them. Kendrick hates Drake though.
I have people that I hate. Valerie and Andrea to name two. The way I hate them pales in how much Kendrick hates Drake, and if you are a Constant Reader you KNOW why and how much I hate the 2 women I named. After the past month, I realize that I’ve been small balling hatred and I have shame.
You see rap beef ain’t new. Drop a few verses, a few songs, the fans win. Sometimes you make nice after a few years. Sometimes the main attractions in the beef get gunned down before their time. Sometimes you drop the bars and go live in your separate corners of the music world. Kendrick is having none of that. Eminem once said we ain’t never gonna stop beefin I don’t squash no beef and Kendrick is choosing to live those words. Shit in Like That Kendrick told us he was choosing violence.
It became clear as the songs appeared on the Internet that Kendrick sees Drake as a culture vulture, and the worst of hip hop music. He hates that Drake is not authentic, that Drake rides trends and has no identity of his own. He also seems to hate the fact that Drake inhales and exhales.
Now a few years back when Pusha T exposed Drake and that didn’t get him out of the paint, one might have mistaken that Drake was invincible, the teflon MC. Ghost writers – hiding a kid – putting $$ on the street for gossip these are all things not done in the hip hop I grew up with. Yet there stood Aubrey. By the time we get to Euphoria though it was clear – to me at least – Drake wasn’t shaking this one off.
The difference this time I think was not just the messenger – K Dot – but also timing and credibility and also integrity.
Drake has ‘won’ his other battles either by proclaiming himself rich and prolific, or just riding it out and letting the ‘news cycle’ pass. Let’s face it that worked. Pusha T should have ‘ended’ him, yet here we are all these years later and Drake is still Draking. Kendrick is different in the sense that he is not just respected but revered in the industry and the streets. He is also loved. Mind you, that might be true of others who’ve engaged, but they were not anointed by hip hop royalty – Kendrick is.
Family Matters wasn’t bad. It was the hardest I’ve heard Drake flow ….possibly ever. Even if I didn’t believe the words coming out of his mouth, the response was a quality I was not expecting. It was not the gimmick of 2Pac in AI. It wasn’t the hook of Back to Back. It was a good response. The Internet was celebrating their heroes comeback!!!! But within the hour of Family Matters release came:
I had to pause the song 10 seconds in. 10
Kendrick says to this man’s son he was sorry Aubrey was his father and I was NOT ok. I am still not ok.
For me, it was over but like I said, Kendrick showed me I was small balling hatred.
There is not a word in Meet the Grahams wasted. Not a breath nor pause wasted. This was a deconstruction of Drake the brand and Aubrey the man. You won’t ever convince me there is not an 11 year old daughter out there. Meet the Grahams was a nick to the femoral vein. Not Like Us was the slice through the jugular….or so I thought.
Drake put out a response, and like every problematic man before him, he forgot that saying nothing was an option. You heard Meet the Grahams and could have said I am outmatched and went on making his style of music. Instead he put out the Heart Part 6. I don’t think you can even get it streaming any more, but Not Like Us is approaching 100 millions views. Not Like Us was a month ago though. So Drake did Drake. A song with Sexy Red over the BBL Drizzy beat – which bless up is another layer to the death of industry Drake. A song Hey There Delilah and it seemed to the casual observer that Drake would ride this out like he’s done before. Kendrick Lamar Duckworth is a super villain though.
The Pop Out was announced. A concert. On Juneteenth. I don’t think it gets much Blacker than that, but it would.
I watched it and knew it was going to be greatness when it started late. Stereotypes be damned when you are starting off a Black assed show on CP time I will just thank you and enjoy the ride. Even though I am a punctual woman, I understand CP time and find it anti Black to condemn it fuck your feelings if you don’t agree.
By the time we get to the release of Not Like Us, Kendrick had killed the Drake brand in the culture. Not his career but within the culture – think Ja Rule.
The Pop Out was a love song to LA hip hop, LA, hip hop in general and a reminder to Aubrey that which he can never ever be or imitate. Watching the opening set with DJ Hed was an introduction to new artists I’ve since added to my phone and a warm up to the night we were in for as an audience. What’s consistent about K Dot is that he is a griot and storyteller. He weaves an experience for you to land you where he wants you. In this moment he wanted the world to see his roots, his peers and why he loves hip hop. He also debunked just about every allegation Drake tossed at him in those weak responses. That first set took kids used to playing the farmer’s market and 200 person capacity clubs to the arena experience. 310babii was at his high school graduation a week before but now he was in the Forum, a place he could only drive by for a shot in his video Soak City. On Juneteenth he was on the stage. Tommy the Clown, fucking legend and his dancers.
The next set had DJ Mustard and being honest I didn’t realize how many bangers he had. Tyler the Creator was welcomed with audience thunder even though there are some who would have you believe the kid was cancelled. Gay rapper on stage in Pride month. Drake said Kendrick wasn’t hard like his boy YG and YG said I stand with K Dot on stage at the Pop Out. Ty Dolla Sign, Steve Lacy. It was a moment. The big deal was coming though.
The prior 2 sets told the audience, yeah you came to see Kendrick be messy but this is bigger than Drake. This is where we draw the line in the sand and remind folx that the West Coast sets trends and hip hop is not prefabricated. Kendrick was up next and bless up he was messy.
He started his set with Euphoria [low key my favorite of the diss tracks]. He said I know why you are here, but imma still tell this story. We got a Black Hippy reunion. I got a thug tear watching K Dot stand forehead to forehead with Ab Soul. The crowd knew every word to every song and even though all the cameras were in the air you understood that it wasn’t a crowd of influencers creating FOMO for the gram.
Kendrick brought out Dr Dre. Yes I know the history and yes Dre is every bit as problematic as his reputation, but I get WHY it had to happen. Even though semi-HOTEP Kendrick might not feel as some of us feel about Dre [can’t say I really fuck with him any more personally], the moment was necessary for the AUDIENCE. This crowd still sees Dre as the Godfather. They don’t give a fuck about Dee Barnes or the ex-wife. They see Dr Dre was the man who made THIER sound and THEIR culture relevant to the culture of hip hop at a time when you weren’t valid unless you came from the East Coast, or more specifically New York. The CROWD needed Dr Dre and Kendrick delivered. Then Dr Dre hit the alleyoop and said dunk on them Kendrick:
Now before I break down this epic segment, Kendrick is whew…
He came out for his set in the most basic of outfits. Nothing like his Mr Morale wardrobe. The stage was floor length and bare. He did the whole prior hour with NO backing tracks and no hype man. Just the microphone and him. I didn’t see him even take a SIP of water the whole time he was on stage. MONSTER. I really need you to understand. Kendrick Lamar Duckworth came out in his lil brother’s hoodie, Foster Grant reading glasses, creased sneakers and nothing else. Well no …he did pull out a million dollar neck piece to remind mofos he AIN’T broke.
Back to the finale.
The way this man EDGED this crowd I know my lifestyle friends were proud. By the time the crowd finally got to sing THEY NOT LIKE US it was like watching 20,000 people having an orgasm. Peep the restart – he let the crowd sing that whole first verse and they did.
On the 2nd full song he started bringing out the prior acts and guests and I shed another thug tear. Even though it is still clear that I carry some anger with Black men, I love them. I want to see them win and be happy. Watch Russell Westbrook dance with his big ass and tell me that is not Black boy joy. Look at the representative from every gang LA has crip walking and B walking side by side and dapping each other up. I’d give a lot to have that more often, not just gang harmony but Black men together, smiling and laughing and not coming for the neck of Black women.
Even though they were dancing on the grave of the artist formerly known as Drake, they were dancing and Kendrick did that.
Thank you Mr. Duckworth. Now drop that video please so we can keep this party going and you can keep your foot on Aubrey’s throat.